City to pay $3.25M to bicylist injured in pothole crash

A delayed response to complaints of potholes in a California roadway will cost the city of Oakland $3.25 million.

In a closed-door meeting on Tuesday, the city council agreed to pay that amount to Dulcey Bower, a 35-year-old bicyclist who was severely injured in an Aug. 2011 crash on Mountain Boulevard, reports the Oakland Tribune. The council will publicly vote on the settlement at an April 1 meeting.

Only $250,000 will be paid by an insurance company and the rest is to come from the city’s coffers, the newspaper notes.

“This was a serious accident, and this settlement is a fair settlement,” said Councilman Dan Kalb on Thursday. “The real issue … is what more do we need to do … to make sure we fix the roads that need fixing before accidents like this happen. And that’s primarily a budgetary challenge.”